IWC Grande Ingenieur Chronographe IW378401

What is more, the Ingenieur has always attracted like a magnet the best ideas of the designers and watchmakers. The Big Ingenieur Chronograph in platinum (250 watches limited variant), rose gold and stainless steel also brings together everything that is good, innovative and exceptionally hard-wearing: the IWC manufactured 89360 calibre chronograph movement with a double-pawl winding system, flyback function and analogue display of long stop times, design of the movement for robustness and a larger case with a tachymeter scale. And the fact that the soft iron inner case, not considered essential by everyone, was dispensed with also makes it comfortable to wear on account of its weight, size and ergonomic case/strap design. This is only to be expected from an item of equipment intended for daily and out-of-the-ordinary use. In addition, it invites anyone with a penchant for things mechanical to admire its inner values through the sapphire glass back. And they are indeed impressive.

The typical Ingenieur case has been revised once again, and its increased diameter of 45.5 millimetres also imparts a rather slimmer and accordingly more elegant appearance. Yet above all else, the idea of further enhancing the robustness of this Ingenieur through design measures was always at the forefront. For this reason, the Big Ingenieur Chronograph with the chronograph buttons integrated harmoniously into the case was given an additional side guard to protect the screw-in crown from lateral impacts. Better safe than sorry. It is also water-resistant to 12 bar.

The real reassurance comes from inside, however, and this has been an innate characteristic of the 89360 calibre chronograph movement from the moment of its birth, so to speak: it is powered by the IWC double-pawl winding mechanism. Here, the four pawls are driven by a crankshaft – according to the same principle used in automotive engineering – and transmit the movement of the rotor to the winding pinion. The system is so efficient in terms of its energy consumption that the rotor weight could be reduced. The result is less wear. The rotor itself is supported on a spring bridge, which absorbs shocks and vibrations from all sides.

The many and diverse capabilities of the integral chronograph with its flyback function can un fold precisely under these ideal conditions. The central stop hand measures the “small” stop times of up to a minute. It can also be used to measure the actual speed on the tachymeter scale over a reference distance of 1 000 metres, for example. It is thus also possible for a number units or events occurring within a given minute to be extrapolated to an hour. Furthermore, the flyback chronograph from IWC permits the immediate cancellation of a running measurement by actuating the reset button. The stop hands fly back to zero and immediately begin to record a new time. However, its greatest practical benefit is the analogue display of longer stop times (over one minute) by two hands on an inner dial. By this means, stop times can be read off conveniently, much like a second time, without the need to add them together first. This function – in conjunction with the design of the movement – also allows the chronograph to operate for a longer period without any drop in amplitude. The movement equipped with a date display and a small seconds hand builds up a power reserve of 68 hours in only a short time thanks to the double-pawl automatic winding system.